Israel said yesterday that all parties signed the final version of the first phase of the agreement with Hamas for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages, with a view to ending two years of war.
This agreement between Israel and Hamas was forged from a 20-point plan proposed by US President Donald Trump and provides for the release of the remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinians.
"The government has approved the plan for the release of all hostages, both alive and dead," the prime minister's office announced in a brief message on the social network X.
The approval comes after hours of meetings between Israeli ministers and Netanyahu and with US President Donald Trump's special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and the US president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
The ratification of the agreement was the last step expected to launch the mechanisms envisaged in this first phase of the plan sponsored by Trump, which Hamas also accepted early Thursday morning, and which provides for a ceasefire to come into effect in Gaza 24 hours after this final signature, as confirmed in an appearance by Tal Heinrich, the spokeswoman for the Israeli Prime Minister's Office.
The agreement also provides for the withdrawal of Israeli troops to certain points in the Strip, reducing their control from more than 80% to 53% of the enclave's territory.
The release of the captives"should put an end to the war," said Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, and Hamas chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya said he had received"guarantees from brotherly mediators and the US administration confirming that the war has come to an end" after indirect negotiations in the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, mediated by the US, Qatar and Türkiye.
Likewise, the Israeli government spokeswoman stated that prominent Palestinian prisoner Marwan Barghouti, a member of Fatah, the rival Palestinian faction of Hamas, will not be part of the exchange in which Israel will release 1,700 prisoners from the Gaza Strip arrested after October 7, 2023, and another 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences.
To enter into force, the agreement had to be validated yesterday by the Israeli security cabinet, something that happened early this morning in Israeli territory, despite pressure from the Israeli Minister of Internal Security, the radical right-wing Itamar Ben Gvir, and the Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, to reject the proposal.
For his part, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared in an interview with Israeli television that he wished for"peace, security and stability" between Palestinians and Israelis."What happened today is a historic moment (...) We hope to end the bloodbath that affects our country, whether in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank or East Jerusalem," he added.
Celebrations on both sides
In Khan Yunis, in the south of the devastated Gaza Strip, Palestinians applauded and shouted in jubilation as the agreement was announced, according to images recorded by the AFP news agency."Despite all the deaths and the loss of loved ones, today we are happy after the ceasefire," said Gazan Aiman al-Najar.
In Tel Aviv's Hostages Square, people also hugged and congratulated each other in the hope of the return of the approximately 20 hostages still alive. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed"a great day for Israel" and declared that Trump should receive the Nobel Peace Prize, which will be awarded today.
However, Trump claimed that he did not push for the agreement between Israel and Hamas to win the Nobel Prize, but rather that he did it"for humanity." He also stated that "no one will be forced to leave" Gaza."No, it's the opposite," the Republican asserted from the Oval Office, where he received Finnish President Alexander Stubb.
For now, uncertainty persists over other issues raised by Trump, such as the disarmament of Hamas and the government of Gaza under a transitional authority headed by himself.
The Republican leader explained that there will be"disarmament" in the next phase of the agreement and that the priority, for now, is the return of the hostages. Hamas, in turn, rejected a transitional authority headed by Trump himself.
It was also announced that a group of 200 US military personnel will be deployed to the Middle East to monitor the truce."Their role will be to supervise, observe, and ensure there are no violations," a senior official told reporters.
They will also be joined by Egyptian, Qatari, Turkish, and possibly Emirati troops, he said. A second official said that"there is no intention to send US troops into Gaza."
Expected visit
Trump announced that he will try to travel to Egypt for the signing of the ceasefire agreement, after being invited by his counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Israel announced that the ceasefire will begin within 24 hours of approval by the Israeli security cabinet.
The pact seeks to end two years of war in Gaza, a conflict that erupted with Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack on Israeli territory, which left 1,219 dead, mostly civilians. In response, Israel launched an offensive that has already left at least 67,194 dead in Gaza, according to figures from the Hamas government's Health Ministry, considered reliable by the UN.
Meeting in Europe
France hosted Arab and European foreign ministers yesterday for talks on how to help the Palestinians once the conflict in Gaza ends.
In parallel, the foreign ministers of France, Spain, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar, Canada, Indonesia, Turkey, and the European Union had already planned to address the"day after" the conflict in Paris.
At the start of the meeting, French President Emmanuel Macron warned that the"acceleration" of settlement in the West Bank is an "existential threat to a Palestinian state" and "contradicts the US plan."
The foreign ministers meeting in Paris were to discuss "the implementation of the peace plan" and "the main parameters of the 'day after'," the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement, referring to security, governance and reconstruction.
"What we're going to try to do here in Paris is to unite our voices (...) so that this path that is beginning to open today is irreversible and that we can finally implement the two-state solution," one Israeli and one Palestinian, stressed Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares.
The notable absentee from the meeting was US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose attendance was announced at one point.
The meeting discussed humanitarian aid, the reconstruction of Gaza, and even the deployment of an international security and stabilization mission under the aegis of the United Nations, something the Europeans would support.
